Mavericks trample Thunderbirds

Monday

Oct 8, 2012 at 9:02 AMOct 8, 2012 at 9:08 AM

It was another short night for the Skyline Thunderbirds as they took on the Kiowa County Mavericks. With the score 50-0 at halftime, that was enough to call an end to the proceedings on a blustery evening in Greensburg.

Neil DePew

It was another short night for the Skyline Thunderbirds as they took on the Kiowa County Mavericks. With the score 50-0 at halftime, that was enough to call an end to the proceedings on a blustery evening in Greensburg.Things couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start for Skyline as on their inittial possession, the Mavs Trever Powell picked off a T-Bird pass and took it to the house.Powell scored his second TD on a 42 yard run a few moments later, and the rout was on.In all, Powell reached paydirt 4 times and his running mate, Creighton McDonald added three touchdowns of his own. In what had to be a frustrating night for the T-Birds, they were unable to move the ball on offense, and then unable to stop Kiowa County when the Mavs had the ball. So dominant was the Maverick rushing attack that Kiowa County coach Clint Young didn’t feel it necessary to call even one passing play on the night.“We knew Kiowa County was good.” Skyline head coach Jon Novotny said. “Unfortunately, we were not sharp from the get-go. That early interception and then their big plays put us in a pretty deep hole, and we had a hard time trying to dig out of it.”As much as anything, the Thunderbirds inability to sustain any offense hurt their chances in the contest.“We talked all week about how our best defense at this point is our offense,” Novotny explained. “We need to control the ball, play the time of possession game. But (Friday night) we weren’t able to establish that with any consistency.”Novotny felt that both his team’s effort and execution were somewhat lacking Friday night, saying, “We have to learn to get past the distractions and give consistent effort and execution.”“Of course,” he continued, “we are still a young ball club and sometimes young kids will just lose focus.” At 0-6, the youthful T-Birds are still not hanging their heads, according to Novotny. “They’re still eager to learn,” he expressed. “They want to watch film and correct their mistakes. We’re still looking forward to the next game.”That next game will be at home against St. John next Friday. Gametime will be 7 p.m.